An Israeli aircraft attacked a motorcyclist in Gaza on Tuesday, killing the rider and wounding two other people in the first deadly air strike in the Palestinian territory since a truce was reached with Palestinian militants last November.

The Israeli military said the air strike killed Haitham Mishal, whom it identified as a jihadi militant involved in the 17 April rocket attack on the southern Israeli resort town of Eilat.

In a statement, the Israeli military said Mishal had been "a key terror figure, specialising in weapons and working with all of the terror organisations in the Gaza Strip". It said he manufactured weapons and sold rockets and explosive devices to militant groups.

Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers engaged in eight days of heavy fighting last November before reaching an Egyptian-brokered truce. Under the deal, Gaza militants pledged to stop rocket attacks on Israel, while Israel said it would halt a policy of assassinating wanted militants.

But after several months of calm the truce has begun to unravel in recent weeks. Palestinian militants have sporadically fired rockets into southern Israel, while the Israeli air force has responded with air strikes on training sites and open areas in Gaza.

Hamas is not believed to have been involved in the rocket fire, and small al-Qaida-influenced militant groups have claimed responsibility. But Israel has said it holds Hamas, as the ruling power in Gaza, responsible for all attacks out of the crowded seaside strip.

Israel said Mishal was involved in the jihadi group that claimed responsibility for the Eilat attack.

Israel viewed the rocket attack on Eilat, a normally tranquil oasis that borders the Red Sea and Egypt's Sinai desert, as an escalation. It accused Gaza militants of staging the attack, which caused no injuries, out of Egypt's Sinai desert and threatened heavier retaliation.

Israeli media said the attacker was standing at a bus stop used by settlers, Israeli soldiers and Palestinians at a junction near the Palestinian city of Nablus. He then stabbed the settler, before seizing the man's gun and shooting him.

The Palestinian then began shooting at security services who arrived on the scene, Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said on Tuesday. He added that the man was in custody.